1. Summary of the Invention
This invention relates to a surgical cap and mask and, more particularly, to a one piece garment constructed for use in a health care environment and the like, the garment including a major portion positionable over the head of the wearer and a minor portion positionable over the face of the wearer, the major and minor portions being joined to form ear openings therebetween and to also form a neck opening and an eye opening.
2. Description of the Background Art
There is an ever continuing need for increased cleanliness and sterility in and around health care facilities. It has long been the practice for the physicians, nurses and other people at health care facilities to wear sterilized apparel either directly or over the normal apparel. Such sterilized apparel provides protection against the transmission (giving or receiving) of germs, viruses or the like.
For many years, cloth garments have been utilized and then washed after each use in an effort to facilitate such protection. It has been found in recent years, however, that sterilized paper or other material, disposable and biodegradable is better suited for these purposes, both from a health stand point as well as from an economic standpoint. Such disposable products are readily sealed hermetically after fabrication and opened immediately prior to use, preferably in a sterilized room, for maximizing the safety to patient as well as physicians, nurses and other health care people.
Various garments have been designed, commercialized, and utilized and patented for covering the majority of the head and/or face of the health care people. Such garments frequently utilized a cap for covering the hair and adjacent head areas in combination with a mask which is tied around the back of the wearer's head to filter the breathing of the wearer. Unfortunately, time and effort is needed in putting on and taking off such garments. Various other devices have also been made in a one-piece configuration covering various parts of the anatomy. Prior to applicant's invention hereof, none has ever been constructed to maximize the safety and comfort while minimizing cost and inconvenience.
In the ever increasing effort to improve head coverings for health care facilities, a wide variety of designs have been generated and a large number of patents have been issued. By way of example, consider U.S. Pat. Nos. 911,433 to Pachner and 3,307,202 to Schuessler. Neither of these garments is constructed and designed to make them suitable for use in health care environments. Other garments are known in the prior art which provide protective head covering arrangements for use in health environments. Four such garments are disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,885,558 to Belkin; 4,589,408 to Singer; 4,805,639 to Dial and 4,032,991 to Vandeweghe. These garments cover the complete head of the wearer and, as such, are not combination cap and mask arrangements. Additionally, U.S. Pat. No. 5,067,174 to Ritchey illustrates a combination headgear and face mask for use in a health environment. However, the face mask and headgear are interconnected only by way of a visor. As such, the Ritchey headdress is not of a construction for maximum benefits. Lastly, Bishop is U.S. Pat. No. 4,671,271 illustrates a protective facial mask which covers the oral and nasal cavities. The mask, as such, provides no head covering structure.
As evidenced by the above referred to patents, as well as other commercial garments, a wide variety of garments have been designed for covering of the head and facial regions of a wearer, and efforts are continuously being made in an attempt to improve surgical head coverings. None, however, provides the benefits, advantages and objectives of the present invention which employs sterile sheet material gathered, stitched and rendered resilient in certain key areas to maximize the cleanliness, comfort, convenience and utility with maximum coverage of a wearer's head while minimizing the cost and inconvenience which were prevalent in the garments of the prior art. No prior patent or commercial garment is directed to a one piece cap and mask combination garment for use in a health care environment in the manner intended herein.
By making the garment, as disclosed in the instant application, sufficiently large in the area covering the hair and chin, a common size garment will accommodate people with greater or lesser quantities of hair either on the head, face or chin of the wearer without excessive encumbrances. Further, the fullness of the garment in the chin area allows the pulling down of the elastic edge thereabove to a location adjacent to the chin for rendering speaking more intelligible by the wearer. This is very critical in a health care setting such as an operating room. Similarly, the openings for the ears and eyes allow for the maximum utilization of the eyes and ears of the wearer as required by physicians and nurses when, for example, an operation is being performed.
The prior art masks of the type that are tied from behind have tendencies to restrict the nose and mouth of the wearer thereby providing a feeling of smothering as well as garbling the words when the wearer attempts to speak. The particular design of the present invention with the gathering and stitching of resilient members renders material above the nose in proper position so that the problem of drooping of this portion of the material below the nose or mouth is no longer a problem. Additionally, uncomfortable and inconvenient pins had previously been used to hold the material in this area adjacent the upper part of the nose to preclude the drooping of the fabric to beneath the nose and mouth.
Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide a one piece garment constructed for use in a health care environment and the like, the garment including a major portion positionable over the head of the wearer, the major piece having a forward edge positionable across the forehead of the wearer and rearward edge positionable across the back of the head of the wearer; and a minor portion positionable over the face of the wearer, the minor piece having an upper edge positionable beneath the eyes and above the nose of the wearer and a lower edge positionable across the throat of the wearer, the major and minor portions being joined to form ear openings therebetween and to also form a neck opening between the rearward edge of the major portion and the lower edge of the minor portion, and to also form an eye opening between the forward edge of the major portion and the upper edge of the minor portion.
It is a further object of the present invention to maximize coverage of a wearer's head in a health care environment.
It is a further object of the present invention to utilize sterile, disposable garments in a facility dispensing health care.
Lastly, it is an object of the present invention to speed up the donning and removal of head covering garments.
The foregoing has outlined some of the more pertinent objects of the present invention. These objects should be constructed to be merely illustrative of some of the more prominent features and applications of the intended invention. Many other beneficial results can be attained by applying the disclosed invention in a different manner or by modifying the invention within the scope of the disclosure. Accordingly, other objects and a fuller understanding of the invention may be had by referring to the summary of the invention and the detailed description of the preferred embodiment in addition to the scope of the invention defined by the claims taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.